Hell Bent

by Cate Corvin

  I leaned against the warmth of his furry side, holding the Spear at bay. He purred again when I scrubbed my fingers through his mane and found a ticklish spot behind his ear. “At this point, I’d even be willing to jump through one of Azazel’s interdimensional portals to get back.”

  “Does anyone have one of those amulets?” Lucifer asked, but everyone shook their heads.

  “Even if you have the amulet, the spell on it is long dead,” Azazel said. “The Queen’s power would’ve shorted out any magic belonging to me when I arrived.”

  Vyra skidded to a halt and bent over, bracing her hands on her thighs. “Remember when I told you how I got here?” she asked, grinning up at me.

  “You said it was a caravan and… a friend of Haru’s,” I said suspiciously.

  “Well, it’s time to come meet Haru’s friend. He’s your ride to Dis.”

  30

  Melisande

  She led us past the Gates and into the desert.

  “Belial, you’ll have to be in demon form for this,” Vyra said. “He won’t appreciate a lion clinging to his back with claws and teeth.”

  Belial snorted smoke, then shifted as he walked, never missing a beat. He slung an arm around my shoulders and gave her a narrow-eyed look. “Exactly what is ‘he’?”

  “You’ll see. Haru did have to make a trade for him to bring us, but… well, it’s better than the Between. Or flying. There’s a lot of land in Hell we don’t really want to walk through.”

  I still had the succubus’s temple map inscribed in my mind. Some parts of Hell were definitely better off left alone. Images of that sea of darkness between the kingdoms still gave me the chills.

  “He brought us to the outskirts,” Vyra continued. “He didn’t want to go anywhere near Kur. Now that Ereshkigal is dead he agreed to land, but he still wasn’t keen on the idea of going within the bounds of the city itself.”

  I squinted out at the desert, shielding my eyes from the sun. There was a flash of copper and brilliant white: Haru’s bright hair and Michael’s wings.

  They were alone, though.

  “Is he invisible?” I asked.

  Vyra made an impatient noise. “No, he doesn’t like the sun, either. He’s burrowed.”

  “Is there anything he does like?” Tascius inquired.

  She glanced at him, her brows raised. “Eating people who ask too many questions.”

  Tascius ducked his head and cast me a smile. “Point taken.”

  We trudged through the sand towards Michael and Haru. The archangel still had pale scars around his wrists and ankles where Ereshkigal’s ebonite bonds had torn his skin.

  “Well… here we are.” I stared at the sand, willing this mysterious benefactor to appear.

  Haru pulled off his helmet and tossed it aside, followed by the chest plate of ebonite scales. “I’m not bringing this home,” he muttered, and when he was stripped down to pants, he stomped on the ground. “Wake up, Narukami.”

  I thought it was a rather rude way to call for someone who was offering to bring us across all of Hell, but apparently it was expected.

  The dark sand began to shift, swirling faster into a whirlpool. We backed away, watching as the sand sank to a single point, and something glistening silver emerged.

  The dragon that burst out of the sand was nothing like the Dragon of the Pit. It was enormous, dwarfing even Belial in his lion form, but with a long body that shone pale blue. Silver horns fanned around the dragon’s long snout, and whiskers that crackled with lightning fluttered behind him.

  He climbed out of the desert and coiled around himself, gray eyes peering at Haru.

  When Narukami spoke, I couldn’t understand a word he was saying. The words came out in a roar, showing his razor-like teeth.

  “This is everyone. I’ve already promised to pay you back in kind.” The kitsune’s ears twitched. Whatever he’d promised Narukami, he didn’t look happy about it at all.

  The dragon cast his glare over all of us, and a ripple went through his body when his pale eyes landed on the Spear.

  He roared again, and Haru shrugged at me. “It needs to be wrapped up. He won’t risk it touching his scales.”

  “Ah, fuck,” I muttered. I’d been so intent on stealing Ereshkigal’s claws, I’d forgotten the dire need to keep everyone else protected from the Spear.

  “Take this,” Lucifer said, yanking his shirt over his head. His chest was still laced with the scars Ereshkigal had left.

  I took the shirt gratefully, and one by one people offered up bits and pieces. Vyra tore off a whole strip of her skirt for me.

  When I was done wrapping and tying, the Spear looked like it’d been mummified in a rainbow of colors, but Narukami seemed satisfied.

  “He says you may climb on now, but don’t tug on his fins. He hates that,” Haru translated.

  Vyra was the first one to flutter into the air and land gracefully behind Narukami’s curved horns. She reached down, offering a hand to Haru, and pulled him up in front of her.

  Michael climbed up behind her, followed by Lucifer, Tascius, and then Belial.

  Belial patted the silvery scales. “Sit between us, angel.”

  I was about to climb up, but Azazel caught my hand. He pulled me back towards him and kissed me, reaching up to cup my face.

  “What was that for?” I asked, seeing literal stars. They danced around us even in broad daylight.

  “I’m taking a different path. There’s something I’d like to do alone.” Azazel’s gaze asked me to understand.

  I thought of how carefully he’d pulled his father’s skin, Ereshkigal’s grim trophy, from her throne room wall. He would want to lay his father to rest in peace, somewhere that maybe Nakir’s soul could find Lailah again. Maybe even in the Between, where their memories had existed for eons.

  “I’ll be waiting for you. Take as long as you need.” I kissed his cheek, and flew up onto the dragon’s back, settling myself between Tascius and Belial.

  Azazel raised a hand. “See you at home.”

  He vanished in a swirl in stars that winked out behind him.

  Belial wrapped his arms around me tightly. “So he gets to just teleport, huh?”

  I patted his knee. “Don’t tell me the big strong lion is afraid of heights.”

  He pinched my side, making me squirm away, then abruptly buried his face in the crook of my shoulder and neck. “I just want to be home with you, angel. Away from this all. Back to the simplicity of fighting for fun and money.”

  I reached and brushed through his dark hair. “Me, too. Sometimes it’s hard to believe that everything I thought was difficult was really so easy compared to this.”

  “We’ll get to just… live,” Belial said. “Raise our daughter. Have a home. Imagine that.”

  He put his hand over my stomach, where Sarai kicked him gleefully. “She’ll probably take over as soon as she’s old enough to pick up a sword,” I told him.

  “Do you think she’ll have magic?” he asked. “Have you felt it yet? Were you… even able to?”

  I thought about it. During my entire captivity in Kur, I’d focused on protecting Sarai to my last breath, but she had magic. I’d felt it more and more, and it had become most obvious to me when the power Inanna had passed to me had taken over my body.

  Sarai would be the daughter of wrath. Her magic had complemented my own. “She does have it. I think it’s mostly yours,” I said. “I felt the fire in her.”

  Belial exhaled. I couldn’t imagine what he was feeling after everything we’d gone through.

  “Let’s just take you both home,” he said heavily.

  Narukami shifted, testing our weight, then slithered through the sand like a giant snake. I was half ready to jump off when the dragon gave a mighty wriggle and exploded into the air.

  The desert fell away behind us, and we soared up into the clouds. I heard Michael yelling something gleefully, but his words were lost beneath a crack of thunder.

  The clo
uds that Narukami touched darkened and began to spill rain. Lightning wreathed the sky but didn’t touch us.

  I took a deep breath of fresh, clean air that was tinged with acrid ozone, and Narukami sped up. The cold, driving wind whipped my face, but it was one of the best feelings ever.

  The dragon roared and spat a ball of lightning that crackled through the sky, spinning ahead of us until it opened a portal of light.

  I didn’t have time to blink before the dragon tore through it head-long. Lightning danced over my skin and through my hair, blinding me with its brilliance, and then…

  I saw them. The jagged mountains of the wastelands, the dark sand dunes that rose and fell.

  But next to Irkalla, they felt alive. The heartbeat of Dis was strong in this land, whereas Kur’s was long dead. It would be up to Nergal to bring it back to life.

  Dis was on the horizon, the great bowl of it dropping into the earth. It buzzed with demons flying overhead, and the familiar sight of the Brightside and Nightside almost made me scream out loud.

  There was my Circle, the Brightside glistening with iron and gold, the Nightside glimmering with soft lights.

  All the homesickness I’d pushed away came roaring back. I almost dug my fingernails into Narukami’s scales before remembering I didn’t want him to drop everyone over the side, two miles above the city.

  But that was my home, and I’d never leave it again if I could help it.

  I leaned over, trying to peer over Narukami’s enormous side.

  The Pit had been filled in. A smooth plate of obsidian covered its surface, so dark and reflective it looked like a pool of water. The buildings the Dragon’s emergence had destroyed were being pieced back together.

  Narukami spun lower and lower. Flying demons ducked out of the way as the thunder dragon descended towards the city.

  His tucked claws eventually tore the top off a sand dune, and on the next circle around, he slithered gently into the black sand before sliding to a stop. The entrance to Dis was before us, the obsidian buildings beckoning.

  Haru slid off his back and immediately began speaking in Narukami’s ear, his voice dropped so low we couldn’t make out the words.

  Michael was next, and he turned to hold up a hand to Vyra. She took it with a look of surprise, jumping down to the sand.

  The rest of us couldn’t get off fast enough. I dropped into the wastelands, the Spear at my side, and sank to my knees. I buried my hands in the glittering grains of sand I’d once plummeted into, believing I was dead.

  I’d been so alive, and I hadn’t even known it.

  “It feels good to be home,” Lucifer said. His silver eyes were still dark from his time in Kur, but he put his hand on my back, as though reassuring himself that I was still there. That we weren’t just living out a fever dream in Kur that would be snatched away in a heartbeat.

  There were already demons approaching from the edge of Dis. I caught sight of the Prince of the Ninth Circle, his black hair blown back from his face. Adranos only had eyes for Vyra.

  I rose up and turned to thank Narukami, and found that the dragon had already left. He was nothing but a silver ribbon in the sky.

  I hadn’t even noticed.

  “Don’t bother to thank him,” Haru said, catching my expression. “He hates it, and it wasn’t out of the kindness of his heart, anyways.”

  “What did you promise him?” I asked curiously, but Haru just shrugged, tugging a crooked, mask-like smile on.

  “Nothing that can’t be repaid later.”

  Vyra slit her eyes at him, but Haru didn’t elaborate. He avoided her gaze, looking towards the city.

  I didn’t get a chance to dig into it deeper. Adranos and his new Sin Eaters arrived, followed by Asmodeus and Leviathan.

  “Welcome home, all of you.” If I didn’t know better, I’d say Leviathan actually sounded relieved to see all of us in one piece.

  Asmodeus smiled at me, and Adranos stepped forward. “We’ve done as you asked. The Circles have been safe-guarded and rebuilt. And… we’re glad to see you alive and well.”

  “There have been many changes,” Asmodeus added. “The… hole was filled in.” It looked like it pained him to avoid tacking on an innuendo, but he managed. Barely.

  I couldn’t stop the massive grin from spreading across my face. “My God, I missed everything about this place so much.”

  They all made a face at the name ‘God’, but Adranos jerked his head towards the city. “I suppose you’d like to go home before we drop the big news on you?”

  Lucifer took my hand. “The big news can wait for tomorrow. Today is for us.”

  Tascius came to my other side. I’d never been so happy to be surrounded by my family. Heaven hadn’t wanted me, but Hell… this was my soul.

  “Let’s go home,” I breathed, and plunged into my city.

  31

  Melisande

  Even though we’d only been gone for weeks, it felt like we’d been absent a thousand years.

  I barely saw the upper Circles. It all passed in a blur as we rushed down tier after tier. I finally came to a halt when I stepped on the streets of the Seventh Circle, the obsidian stones set with iron.

  I took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of steel and flowers, the familiar tinge of spices and incense.

  Belial had shifted, his massive paws silent on the street. He raised his head and let out a roar, the sound echoing across the filled-in Pit to the Brightside of the Seventh Circle.

  Everyone would know their Prince of Wrath was back, and they’d better have themselves together for it.

  I remembered when he’d first carried me to this Circle on the back of Arcturus, a prize he’d plucked out of the desert. Who could’ve known that I would be coming back here as his equal? That this place would become a home instead of a prison?

  “My Chainlings,” I whispered. “I wonder if they already know.”

  Both Tascius and Belial looked down at me, the lion craning his head.

  “Let’s find out.” Tascius held out his hand to me. I took it, holding myself back from running to the Nightside arena. There was no need to run. I was home, and never leaving again, if I had my way.

  The black spires of my arena towered over the street, beckoning me before the rest of it even came into view. I ducked around the edge of a large obsidian tower, pulling Tascius behind me, and the gates loomed up.

  My arena was whole again. The Chainlings crawled over it, polishing stone, pruning bushes. The chains hanging from their robes filled the air with music.

  They’d repaired the crack, and new saplings had replaced the trees Satan had destroyed. They were still so tiny and frail, but I could already see what the arena would become in another ten years.

  A twinge of misgiving ran ghostly fingers down my spine. As Satan had said… I would live forever. Ten years was the blink of an eye when I had all of eternity to look forward to.

  But Tascius squeezed my hand as several Chainlings looked up, dropping everything they were attending to. I felt the weight of their eyes on me from beneath their hoods.

  They streamed out of the arena, silently gathering as a pair of them unlocked the iron gates and pushed them open for us.

  I stepped inside, feeling almost shy. I’d left as one thing and returned as another. What this what their Chain had been telling them?

  The leader who had brought me to their temple below the arena grounds was at the front. He spread his hands, making the chains that dangled from his sleeves dance and clink.

  “Welcome home, Lady Wrath.”

  Without thinking, I released Tascius’s hand and flung myself at the Chainling, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck. I felt his surprise, but after a moment he relaxed and patted me on the back.

  “Thank you,” I whispered in his ear. “Without you, I wouldn’t have come back. We wouldn’t be here now.”

  I released him, giving him his space again. He adjusted his hood with an embarrassed air. “The Chain is mo
re than pleased with the outcome, Lady. The imbalance has been put to rights, and our temple is now the home of a goddess. Everything we hoped for has come to pass.”

  Despite what we’d gone through in Kur, I felt no animosity towards the Chain now. Everything it had showed me had led me to this moment, from the moment of my human conception on Earth to the choirs of Heaven, even my fall and betrayal at the hands of Heaven’s own.

  Of course my faith in it had been tested more than once, but I was a little more willing to forgive it now.

  “I think I’d just like to enjoy being home for a little bit,” I said, giving him a small bow.

  He bowed back and gestured towards the door. “We’ve kept it ready for you.”

  I looked back at Tascius, Lucifer, and Belial over my shoulder with a grin, and cocked my head at the door.

  It felt dream-like to walk back inside. The Chainlings had removed the Sin Eaters’ corpses from the ceiling, but the chains remained.

  I stopped, looking up. Every single chain was made of gold, shining as brightly as the golden wings mounted above my throne.

  I wondered if the Chainlings had done that… or if they’d changed on their own, ensuring the temple reflected who lived here.

  Vyra rushed past us, bounding up the stairs. “I’m going to nap for the next sixty years,” she announced. “And then you’re all getting haircuts. We’re a mess.”

  I looked down at my shredded clothes, stained with blood, demon essence, and dirt. Against the spotless, gleaming shine of the arena, I felt like a walking clod of dirt.

  “It does feel a little wrong to walk through here like this,” I admitted. “I’m despoiling all their hard work.”

  Belial shifted and stretched. “Shower time? It feels like it’s been years since I’ve gotten to spoil you properly.”

  “Now you’re speaking my language.” I followed Vyra up the stairs, giving him a smirk.

  In my absence, my bedroom had been cleaned up and kept spotless, as though awaiting my return at any second. Belial immediately vanished into the bathroom to fill my tub for us.